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Transition to kindergarten and child outcomes

August and September mark the start of the school year for
America's children, and for the more than 3.7 million children who
the U.S. Department of Education estimates will enroll in public
kindergarten this fall, this time represents a critical period of
transition. Child care and early education programs and schools
undertake a variety of research-based practices and approaches to
facilitate children's adjustment to kindergarten. Particular
attention has been paid to the transitions of children with special
needs; the U.S. Department of Education funded the National Early
Childhood Transition Center to examine factors that promote
successful transitions for young children with disabilities and
their families. However, for typically developing children, there
has been less research examining the practices and programs that
support their kindergarten transitions. This Topic of Interest
identifies the reports and journal articles in the Research
Connections collection that offer research findings on the
relationship of transition practices and programs to the
developmental and school outcomes of typically developing children.
(author abstract)